It's official - Percy is playing

[phill206]

Confirmed by both Pete and Percy. He will also be returning kicks. Can't wait to see how this goes.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... this-week/

[Irish Greg 2.0]

Awesome. Just his presence is going to help.

Any play he can make is icing on the cake.

[burrrton]

Great news.

Surprised he's returning kicks (and Clayton will beat Carroll up for it), but I guess if he's back he's back, so why not?

[Irish Greg 2.0]

Exactly. He needs to survive three games... let him go for it.

[phill206]

Also Luke Willson was a full participant today in practice, and sounds like he is a go for Saturday as well. Huge to have him playing.

[Hawkstar]

Pete and Co are some crafty dudes. 17 plays worth of Harvin in a Hawk uni for Ryan to study and a seasons worth of diagraming plays for Bevell and staff... advantage Hawks. Wow. I was jonesing pretty hard all week, I'm officially dying for Saturday now.

[burrrton]

I'm officially dying for Saturday now.

Yeah, this week of work has been pretty much pointless.

I'm nervous for Saturday.

On one hand, I don't see any way in h3ll the Saints can be 30 points better against us than they were last time.

On the other, I know it's more difficult to beat teams twice in a season, and additionally, we're at somewhat of a disadvantage (such as it is), in that they *know* they have to do something different, while we're in the position of having to react to that change.

Will it make enough of a difference? I doubt it, but when it's lose or go home, it doesn't make for a comfortable feeling for me.

[monkey]

Great news.

Surprised he's returning kicks (and Clayton will beat Carroll up for it), but I guess if he's back he's back, so why not?

Well, Carroll has said all along that if he can play, he'll return kicks. Kick returning is a BIG part of why we traded for him to begin with. It's always been the plan to have him return kicks, always, so I would be surprised if he wasn't, because it would be an admission that he wasn't really ready to play to begin with.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

I'm officially dying for Saturday now.

Yeah, this week of work has been pretty much pointless.

I'm nervous for Saturday.

On one hand, I don't see any way in h3ll the Saints can be 30 points better against us than they were last time.

On the other, I know it's more difficult to beat teams twice in a season, and additionally, we're at somewhat of a disadvantage (such as it is), in that they *know* they have to do something different, while we're in the position of having to react to that change.

Will it make enough of a difference? I doubt it, but when it's lose or go home, it doesn't make for a comfortable feeling for me.

30+ MPH winds, cold rain, crazy 12's. The Saints passing game is going to have a hard time doing much of anything, and that's before you even get to the Legion.

[savvyman]

Nice Job Hawknow!

I had always thought this was the greatest motivational speech of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bba5kjtZB9Q

But your words on this board moved the unmovable.

[burrrton]

I'm officially dying for Saturday now.

Yeah, this week of work has been pretty much pointless.

I'm nervous for Saturday.

On one hand, I don't see any way in h3ll the Saints can be 30 points better against us than they were last time.

On the other, I know it's more difficult to beat teams twice in a season, and additionally, we're at somewhat of a disadvantage (such as it is), in that they *know* they have to do something different, while we're in the position of having to react to that change.

Will it make enough of a difference? I doubt it, but when it's lose or go home, it doesn't make for a comfortable feeling for me.

30+ MPH winds, cold rain, crazy 12's. The Saints passing game is going to have a hard time doing much of anything, and that's before you even get to the Legion.

I like where your head's at on this, IG...

[kalibane]

So bittersweet for me. Super pumped for Percy and for Luke being back. But what sad irony that before they made the post season schedule I started planning my wife's birthday party ... Of course the party starts at 4:00 EST 1:00 PST. Root extra hard for me fellas.

[daweez]

This is great news! I can't wait to see him this Saturday.

[RiverDog]

Hopefully Percy returns just one kickoff this Saturday

I'm still uneasy about the circumstances surrounding this whole episode, but that's all water under the bridge at this point. The important thing is that he's in the lineup with a chance to contribute. If all he does is take some pressure off of Tate and Baldwin it will be worth all the trauma we've gone through with him.

I was amazed that Luke Willson came back so quickly. Inflatable splint, hauled off on a cart and he returns in two weeks? I gotta find out what mineral springs he's swimming in.

[Distant Relative]

Hopefully Percy returns just one kickoff this Saturday

I'm still uneasy about the circumstances surrounding this whole episode, but that's all water under the bridge at this point. The important thing is that he's in the lineup with a chance to contribute. If all he does is take some pressure off of Tate and Baldwin it will be worth all the trauma we've gone through with him.

I was amazed that Luke Willson came back so quickly. Inflatable splint, hauled off on a cart and he returns in two weeks? I gotta find out what mineral springs he's swimming in.

Ya, I'd rather see him on the offensive side of the ball, not guys running full speed at him while trying to figure out where the ball is going to land in the wind and rain. That said , I hope he can stay healthy from here on out.

[kalibane]

I'm torn about kickoff duties. I want Percy healthy but this team suffered a lot when Kearse stopped returning kickoffs and Turbin replaced him. Baldwin was an upgrade but still not quite a threat to house one. If they refuse to put Kearse back there for what I can only assume is due to his concussion, maybe Percy is the right decision.

[PasadenaHawk]

I didn't think Kearse was all that great at return duty either, but certainly not as bad as Turbin.

[savvyman]

Here is Percy Harvins Press conference.

About halfway through Percy finally addressed the What changed and his return last Monday.

Pete came to him and told Percy about going on Injured reserve. Percy Responded to Pete that he is now ready to play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcgSJ_uABsY

[kalibane]

Kearse consistently got us past the 25 yard line and at least was a threat to house one. Is he Devin Hester? No but compared to Turbin who kept getting us pinned inside the 20 he was much better (better than Baldwin too).

[RiverDog]

Didn't Kearse return a KO for a touchdown in the preseason?

[kalibane]

Yup he did Riv.

[Hawktawk]

If you saw the one kickoff return from Percy you have to be drooling at the mouth. He has a gear nobody else has. I worry about ball security. I worry about chemistry. But it is what it is. We gave up a kings ransom for the dude and he is apparently ready to go. He should be pretty fresh. I don't give a shat I just want a Lombardi.....

[RiverDog]

If you saw the one kickoff return from Percy you have to be drooling at the mouth. He has a gear nobody else has. I worry about ball security. I worry about chemistry. But it is what it is. We gave up a kings ransom for the dude and he is apparently ready to go. He should be pretty fresh. I don't give a shat I just want a Lombardi.....

If you're talking about Harvin's return against the Vikings, there was a hole big enough to drive a truck through. Harvin's return was a dead sprint. Impressive, but hardly unique amongst NFL return specialists.

[Zorn76]

Fingers crossed:)

It's great news, 1st off, because not many thought this would happen, even for the playoffs. Kickoffs are actually the safest thing he can do, really, because he can at least see the hits coming, and kinda dictate how he handles himself going to the turf.

Lining him up at WR, even with a possible snap count in mind, is what interests me most. How are his routes, cuts, turns, etc.

At least it's happening. That's a (long overdue) reward right there.

All of this said, we still need to hedge this particular bet next spring, lol. But it's playoff time now, so we'll cross that bridge later.

As for this Saturday, I think we win even if we didn't get the good news. We just matchup really well with this Saints team, and we got some of our home mojo back by season's end.

[burrrton]

So bittersweet for me. Super pumped for Percy and for Luke being back. But what sad irony that before they made the post season schedule I started planning my wife's birthday party ... Of course the party starts at 4:00 EST 1:00 PST. Root extra hard for me fellas.

Tell her birthdays come every year- this is Seahawks playoff football.

I'm sure she'll understand...

[burrrton]

Lining him up at WR, even with a possible snap count in mind, is what interests me most. How are his routes, cuts, turns, etc.

The NFL is never as simple as it seems, but it's hard for me to imagine that simply having Harvin run a post or a corner at full speed every pass play wouldn't suck two DBs off virtually every other route.

I guess we'll see.

[kalibane]

So bittersweet for me. Super pumped for Percy and for Luke being back. But what sad irony that before they made the post season schedule I started planning my wife's birthday party ... Of course the party starts at 4:00 EST 1:00 PST. Root extra hard for me fellas.

Tell her birthdays come every year- this is Seahawks playoff football.

I'm sure she'll understand...

Gah I wish. It's a milestone birthday, no way to get out of this one. lol

[monkey]

Lining him up at WR, even with a possible snap count in mind, is what interests me most. How are his routes, cuts, turns, etc.

The NFL is never as simple as it seems, but it's hard for me to imagine that simply having Harvin run a post or a corner at full speed every pass play wouldn't suck two DBs off virtually every other route.

I guess we'll see.

That's just it right there. It's funny how the media and fans alike pretty much all agree that just getting Crabtree back has made a WORLD of difference for the Niners offense (which I agree with BTW, it obviously has) and yet no one seems to be convinced that Harvin will do the same for the Seahawks.

First and foremost, we DON'T need Harvin in order to win it all...we have enough offense as is; but adding Harvin, one of the most dynamic playmakers in all of football, will most certainly help, if nothing else, just in the way you said Burrrton.

Do you remember when you and I used to disagree often? What happened to that?

[kalibane]

No kidding his mere presence keeps someone out of the box. DCs may be comfortable taking their chances with Tate, Kearse and Baldwin (despite being beaten by all for big plays) but you can't afford to let Harvin get the ball in space. If they load the box to take away Lynch like teams have been doing and leave Harvin 1 on 1 in the slot against a nickel back I'll take that all day.... ALL DAY.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

If you saw the one kickoff return from Percy you have to be drooling at the mouth. He has a gear nobody else has. I worry about ball security. I worry about chemistry. But it is what it is. We gave up a kings ransom for the dude and he is apparently ready to go. He should be pretty fresh. I don't give a shat I just want a Lombardi.....

If you're talking about Harvin's return against the Vikings, there was a hole big enough to drive a truck through. Harvin's return was a dead sprint. Impressive, but hardly unique amongst NFL return specialists.

One of the reasons that hole was so big was because of how fast Percy is. He didn't even give the coverage team time to get in their lanes.

[c_hawkbob]

If you saw the one kickoff return from Percy you have to be drooling at the mouth. He has a gear nobody else has. I worry about ball security. I worry about chemistry. But it is what it is. We gave up a kings ransom for the dude and he is apparently ready to go. He should be pretty fresh. I don't give a shat I just want a Lombardi.....

If you're talking about Harvin's return against the Vikings, there was a hole big enough to drive a truck through. Harvin's return was a dead sprint. Impressive, but hardly unique amongst NFL return specialists.

One of the reasons that hole was so big was because of how fast Percy is. He didn't even give the coverage team time to get in their lanes.

There was a pretty decent cut there to maximize that hole as well.

[Seahawks4Ever]

Having Percy back will open up our offense to levels not seen since the last 5 regular season games last season. Rob Ryan will have to put double coverage on Harvin and that will open it up for Baldwin, Tate, and Kearse not to mention the TE's. Yeah, and we even have Luke Wilson back. The only thing that can defeat the Hawks will be the Hawks themselves and I don't see that happening.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

Having Percy back will open up our offense to levels not seen since the last 5 regular season games last season. Rob Ryan will have to put double coverage on Harvin and that will open it up for Baldwin, Tate, and Kearse not to mention the TE's. Yeah, and we even have Luke Wilson back. The only thing that can defeat the Hawks will be the Hawks themselves and I don't see that happening.

That's just it ... you can't really double Percy (or should I say, you better not try). First, he's too fast and shifty so it's a waste of time. We will move him around in formation variation all over the place and set him up for free releases off the line, so tactically it won't work to try and double him. Second, we would destroy the defense with Beast Mode, Zach Miller or the WRs freed up. Wilson is savvy enough to notice the coverages and understand his progressions and the play design where the mismatches are.

That's the whole problem for defenses having to account for Harvin. Even if he only gets a few passes thrown his way, his presence "tilts the field" and sets up other elements of our offense to function without the focus they have had, primarily teams stacking the box to stop Lynch. Go ahead, New Orleans - I DARE you to sell out to stop Lynch again. Please do that. We already saw a snippet of this in the Minnesota game. Several of those completions to Baldwin and Tate were completely about the defense paying so much attention to #11.

The other impact he can and likely will have is kick returns, although hopefully the Saints only have to kick off a few times. His open field ability shrinks the field, which helps our offense a great deal. Tate has been doing that all season with punt returns...there are several games where our offense was off sync and Tate had a big return that helped out a great deal, like the Tampa game for example.

Basically, Harvin coming back...even "rusty"... welcome to your nightmare, NFL.

[THX-1138]

Basically all of you have said exactly what I think about Harvin's return. I just want us to get that damned Lombardi.

Harvin's skill set commands that the defenses scheme for him. But they don't have enough of him with us to scheme for. And I truly believe a 75% Harvin is still several steps ahead of just about any other secondary in the league. I giggle like a mad-man in anticipation of what I wish to see. NO has to be thinking, given the predicted weather conditions, that they are going to get a heavy dose of Lynch. And they SHOULD get a heavy dose of Lynch, as we should ALWAYS be utilizing him. But even just sticking to the game plan will allow Harvin to be available for what I predict to be at least 3-4 shots in the open field, either by bubble screens (not exactly open field I know, but it's Harvin) or just letting him pin his ears back and go run under a Wilson bomb. And if they see that just a couple times the running lanes will open up and we just might get another Beast Quake.

Other fanbases wonder why Seahawks fans are so cocky. I say it's because we knew a little secret and with some good fortune it's about to be unleashed on the other hapless post-season NFL squads.

GO HAWKS!

[monkey]

That's the whole problem for defenses having to account for Harvin. Even if he only gets a few passes thrown his way, his presence "tilts the field" and sets up other elements of our offense to function without the focus they have had, primarily teams stacking the box to stop Lynch. Go ahead, New Orleans - I DARE you to sell out to stop Lynch again. Please do that. We already saw a snippet of this in the Minnesota game. Several of those completions to Baldwin and Tate were completely about the defense paying so much attention to #11.

The other impact he can and likely will have is kck returns, although hopefully the Saints only have to kick off a few times. His open field ability shrinks the field, which helps our offense a great deal. Tate has been doing that all season with punt returns...there are several games where our offense was off sync and Tate had a big return that helped out a great deal, like the Tampa game for example.

Basically, Harvin coming back...even "rusty"... welcome to your nightmare, NFL.

Couldn't have said it better.
One thing though, while the Saints probably won't be doing a lot of kicking off, they will be doing a lot of punting. Saints better not think about punting it to Harvin!
I don't think he'll be rusty anyway, at least not noticeably.
He sure wasn't against Minnesota, and he's had a lot of time to practice.

[Eaglehawk]

Rain rain rain.
Hawks will stick to game plan. Which means run game first then pass.
Both side will take their shots down the field. Harvin should have a field day.

[Hawkstar]

Anyone else have a suspicion that Harvin will be the SB MVP?

[PasadenaHawk]

Honestly, there are so many players on this team that could be mvp. At different times, different guys have really stepped up.

[briwas101]

Lifelong seahawks fan from Kirkland here, this is my first post.

Please forgive what many will consider "negativity" but I have been bothered all season long that Golden Tate and Doug baldwin have been treated as the supporting cast for Percy Harvin. I am the kind of person who HATES giving credit to people who don't deserve it, especially when it takes credit away from those who do.

In Harvin's career he has exactly ONE season where he had more receiving yards than Tate this year.

Harvin's career average receiving yards per season is right about what Doug Baldwin did for us this year.

How is it that Harvin only has one season that was better than Tate's and yet Harvin is treated like he's a top-10 WR in the NFL?

How is it that Harvin's average season in his career is right around what Baldwin did for us this year but Doug gets treated like an after-thought?


How is it that Percy Harvin caught an incredible THREE PASSES for a WHOPPING 21 YARDS against the Saints and 99% of seahawks fans said Harvin was "awesome" or "incredible" or "a beast" or "worth every penny" ?????



The seahawks held Anquan Boldin to 5 catches for 53 yards and a TD on Sunday and almost everyone in seattle said we SHUT HIM DOWN.
The Hawks held Crabtree to 4 catches for 52 yards and almost everyone in seattle said we SHUT HIM DOWN.


So can someone PLEASE EXPLAIN how 5 catches for 53 yards and a TD is "shutting down" Boldin, but 21 yards from Harvin is AWESOME AND AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE AND WORTH EVERY PENNY????

Can someone please explain how 4 catches for 53 yards is "shutting down" Crabtree, but 21 yards from Harvin is AWESOME AND AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE AND WORTH EVERY PENNY???


I just can't stand when people have double standards, and it is even worse when those double standards are created to mask an unfortunate truth: The Percy Harvin trade was the worst move in Seahawks history.


Luckily it shouldn't stop us from winning the super bowl, but when we win it WILL NOT be because of Harvin. When we win it will be because of ALL THE PLAYERS WHO HAVE BEEN CONTRIBUTING THIS SEASON WHO GOT US WHERE WE ARE.

We can all enjoy this season and postseason, but the future might not be so pretty when we lose guys who ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTE and we are stuck paying Harvin $12m to sit on the bench and only get 17 more regular season yards than my 3 year old niece.

And please, people, give the credit where credit is due. The best WRs on this team are Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin. Harvin is either 3rd or 4th (behind Rice).

[Eaglehawk]

So you say that if Harvin plays in the SB and catched 3 TD's and catches passes for almost 150 yards he would not have contributed towards the Seahawks winning the SB?
Worth every penny, I know of no one on this forum that said that. Maybe you can quote someone.
Most of the posters don't feel good about that Harvin trade, others may give him until next season. Let's see what happens.

All most of us care about is winning the SB. With or with out Harvin, we don't care. We just want to win baby win.